This is my first project although I performed many tests and destroyed several bits to make it so. The pebbley finish will be eliminated after a few more coats, time and the smoothing process. The moon, silver, is not quite the size of a dime.
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Very, very nice. Now you have to explain how you did this, please !
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Very nice I like it because it is different good work
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The Manzinita snag is cut from Paduk as a reversed image. The interior portions were cut only partially through the wood in the delicate areas. The five components were then flipped over and glued into the rosewood/ebony background. The tree trunks were done in a similar fashion. The log was outlined and inlaid as a positive element, no flipping needed.
The plants and tree leaves were done by routing the recesses then filling with stone powders and cemented with CA glue. The plants had to be done in two stages, first the stems then the flowers.
At this point the oval was inlaid into the box top.
The hare, mother of pearl, was milled to its outline and inlaid.
The detail on the log was done with a 0.178 mm mill then inked.
The engraving on the hare was done with a 30° carbide drag bit.
Finally, not very evident in the photos, I sanded the moon’s silver to 12,000 grit followed by twirling a 2 mm diameter piece of 8,000 grit to give it anisotropy.
There were lots of tests, experimentation, redos but much of that was getting acquainted with my Nomad.
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Wow, that came out looking really fantastic - thanks for the “how it was done” - gave me some ideas.
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@mikep @Sherpa @Julien Thanks all so far. Feel free to ask for details you want to replicate.
I am very pleased at the precision of the Nomad. It is fully capable of repeating fine, intricate cuts in a variety of materials.
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Sorry for dull question. Regarding the leaves what do you mean stone powders? As in for colour?
Powdered stone of many varieties and granularity is available for inlay. Some folks mix it with epoxy and spackle that into the milled pocket. Others pack the power into the pocket dry then add cyanoacrylate glue. I prefer the latter. I’ve found, from my guitar making days, where I use to do a bunch of decorative inlay, that epoxies can shrink a bit over time leaving a slight indentation, CA glues have not done this in my experience. Of course this distinction is no important in may cases but most of my work is finished very smooth and flat where it is noticeable. I also use CA glue to glue the other elements in their pockets.
The tree leaves were done with two different powders. The brighter, coarser glints near the centers was achieved by adding a pinch of a fine sand “powder” over a base of very fine powder. It was an experiment and it worked for me. This is my first use of stone powders, it appears to be a medium open to creativity.
Here’s a link to what I’ve found to be the best source of stone powders:
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